Acta Medica Anatolia, vol.4, no.4, pp.159-163, 2016 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
ntroduction: Whole body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) has been used in detecting bone metastasis. Conventional
MR sequences used in whole body imaging are mostly T1W and STIR. Our aim is to determine the value of high resolution T2-
weighted mDixon (T2WmD) WB-MRI in detecting bone metastasis in comparison to bone scintigraphy and positron emission
tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT).
Methods: Sixteen patients were enrolled in the study. Twelve patients with malignant disease (4 patients with breast cancer,
4 patients with thyroid medullary carcinoma, 2 patients with multiple myeloma, 1 patient with monoclonal gammopathy,
and 1 patient with neuroendocrine tumor) were imaged with high resolution T2WmD based WB-MRI and PET-CT while 4
patients with prostate cancer were imaged with WB-MRI and bone scintigraphy. Images were reviewed by a nuclear medicine
specialist and by a radiologist blinded to each other’s findings.
Results: Twelve patients were diagnosed as having bone metastasis both by nuclear medicine imaging and by WB-MRI. PET-CT
and bone scintigraphy revealed 4 lesions that could not be detected by WB-MRI in 2 patients whereas WB-MRI detected 16
additional small lesions that could not be shown by PET-CT or bone scintigraphy in 3 patients.
Conclusion: We conclude that high resolution T2WmD based WB-MRI is a very promising method in detecting bone metastasis
and further studies with larger patient populations are suggested.
Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging, bone scintigraphy, PET-CT, bone metastasis.